The 5 matches of the year

By David Slater
October 13 2003

Following a recent poll on this site, we have compilled what the fans believe to be the top 5 matches of the season. Read on to revive some great memories

Three matches recieved equal votes for thrid place.

Third place -

Hampshire v Middlesex, NCL, 5th May, Rose Bowl. Middlesex won by 4 wickets.

On a tough pitch, where hitting sixes is never easy Middlesex were always going to have a hard time chasing 199. They looked out of it for so long..... until Abdul Razzaq found himself facing Shaun Udal. He promptly shocked the locals hitting 3 wonderful sixes, taking 20 of the over to put Middlesex in control. But when he was out in the last over, it was left to Ben Hutton to face the last ball. Two runs were needed and John Crawleyy brought the field in. Hutton found a gap and sent the ball for a four giving Middlesex an astonishing win.

Middlesex v Leicestershire, County Championship, 9-12 July, Southgate. Middlesex won by 8 wickets

To bowl a team out once on the tricky Southgate wicket is good. To bowl them out twice is a magnificent effot. Having posted 620 in the first innings, Leicestershire found themselves following on after scoring 447. After their second innings Middlesex were faced with a target of 163 off 27 overs. They did this in 24 to seal an unlikely win.

Middlesex v Durham, NCL, 10th August, Lords. Middlesex won by 7 runs

Having lost to Somerset earlier in the week a victory was necessary if the Crusaders were to seal promotion. However when Middlesex were 38/5, that seemed very unlikely. A recovery saw 77 from Ed Joyce and 67 by Simon Cook took Middlesex to a respectable 210/8. Durham look set to win until the last few overs when wondeful bowling from Chad Keegan and more impressivly Tim Bloomfield (who took his third 4 wicket haul in a week) saw the Dynamos come up 7 runs short to secure a win against the odds.

Second place -

Middlesex v Hampshire, NCL, 14th September, Lord's. Middlesex won by 6 wickets

Losing this game was not an option for the Crusaders. A win for the Hawks would have seen them promoted and many supporters made the trip fully expecting them to secure the win that would have secured a place in divison 1. Middlesex didn;t get off to a good start. 144 runs were on the board before they took their first wicket. More soon followed, with Weekesy taking 2 in 2 balls. Whilst in the meantime Katich hit 106. As the Hawks innings ended, they were 277/7.

The Middlesex reply got of to a solid start but things slowed down around the 30 over mark. After Weekes was out, having been assisted by Strauss (34) and Keegan (46), Joyce and Shah came together and accelerated. Two 4s of the bowling of Vaas from Joyce, meant that Middlesex needed 14 off the last 2 overs.

14 off 2 overs then became 9 off one. “Myself and Owais were just thinking we needed 9 runs luckily he hit the first ball for 6. After that it was about getting the singles and getting bat on ball” said Joyce.

Mascarenhas was given the job of bowling the last over and didn’t get off to a good start; Shah hitting the shot of the day, a huge 6 over the head of a fielder stuck on the boundary, into the Warner Stand. Just as things were looking simple, he was caught by Udal next ball. Dalrymple was next in and took a single off the first ball; Joyce did the same to tie the match. With 2 balls left, and score would win the game.

Crawley brought all of their fielders inside the circle. Dalrymple got the ball away and sneaked the single to win the game.

First place -

Middlesex v Sussex, County Championship, 23-26 April, Lord's. Middlesex won by 3 wickets.

Getting a first win in division 1 was something Middlesex needed to do and soon. After a poor effot in their first match against Essex, home advantage against Sussex provided the perfect oppatunity, which th team took. As the season went on this result would prove to be a big one.

Having bowled Sussex put for 239, Middlesex were confident but a shocking first innings saw them bowled out for 116. Sussex added 204 to set Middlesex a huge target of 328. Changing weather conditions didn't help. With 83 from Strauss and solid help from the others including Nash, Weekes and Joyce, who hit 49 Middlesex closed in on the target. With 30 runs needed Hutton and Cook carfeully reached the target, pouncing on loose balls to win by 3 wickets